How do I begin finally making music on the piano?

My dog likes classical music?

• My mom and I found this really funny; I used to take piano lessons, and I had to play songs from this repertoire of classical music. Whenever I practiced, my dog would always sit under the bench, or jump up and sit beside me while I played (She's small; a Yorkshire terrier, so she doesn't take up too much space). It happened too often to be a coincidence, as almost every time I practiced, she would come over and listen, so we just assumed she liked the piano music. I've stopped taking lessons for about a year or two, and recently, I started taking it up again as a hobby, printing more modern songs I like for fun, instead of the classical songs I was taught. She would always ignore me now, when I played these songs, so we just thought she is getting older (she's 11 this year), and maybe she's no longer interested in piano music anymore; she would just sit on the couch when I played. But today, after I played my new songs, I dug up an old piano book and started playing Fur Elise just for fun, and she came back and sat under the piano to listen! I know this question's kind of crazy, but can dogs tell the difference between music genres or something? Can they have a preference of music just like humans? I always assumed she just liked the sound of the piano, regardless of the noises I was making; even when I played scales, she would sit under the piano to listen. I'm not crazy, I swear, I just don't think it's a coincidence she decided to sit there again when I played a classical song again, for the first time in a year or two. The songs I played aren't terrible, either; there aren't any clashing noises that would scare her away or anything, she just seemed thoroughly uninterested when I played anything other than classical music. Does anyone else's dog seem to have a preference of music genre?

• Answer:

  We use music in our dog classes sometimes. Mostly for heeling, but dogs seem to renew energy thru music, at least that's what I've noticed. There are plenty of videos on You Tube with dogs reacting to music, there is one dog that plays the piano. You have to see these videos, they will reinforce your assumption that 1. dogs like music and 2. dogs have preferences for certain types of music/instruments. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBluUZ4NnZg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1824urmZmt0&feature=related My dogs received two CD's of classical music as a Christmas gift from a friend. I believe it has a calming affect on my dogs. Studies have shown that classical music reduces anxiety in dogs. "This music is built upon the clinically-tested principles of resonance, tone, and pattern identification," From the study: Understanding that some things about classical music were having an optimum effect on dogs, we endeavored to take Deborah Wells’s work one step further. The purpose of our BioAcoustic Research & Development project was to investigate the effects of multiple types of classical music on the behavior of dogs in kennel and home environments. The music was chosen and arranged according to the principles of entrainment (beats per minute) and harmonic complexity (active listening versus passive hearing). We know that dogs have the same brain-wave patterns as humans. However, dogs’ heart rates vary according to size; the larger the dog, the slower the heart rate. The tempos used in this project were based on an average-size dog.